Only one day left to celebrate this native Greek variety, Xinomavro on its International Day but not to worry, I am sure you can find a great example in your local wine shop. I would like to show you my choice for this day and tell you why you should have a sip of Xinomavro more often!
History
It has been a while indeed since my last glass of Greek wine, let alone a Xino but nevertheless it is something we should enjoy tomorrow! As it counts for its International Day! In recent years, Greek wine industry has made significant efforts on the production of quality wines, enhancing the brand and improving the image of the Greek vineyard both in Greece and abroad. Hence the Association of Winemakers “Wines of North Greece” decided to establish the “International Xinomavro Day” in order to promote the noble variety around world. The date of the celebration is the 1st of November, which marks the end of the harvest (as it is a late ripening grape) and the number 1 is easily remembered and reminds that Xinomavro is the N°1 variety of Northern Greece!
About Xinomavro
I have shared some must-to-know information about Xinomavro already in a previous post, you can read that here. But what I haven’t shared there is that it extremely resembles to another well-known grape variety, none other than Nebbiolo. We have tasted blind multiple time those varieties during our training of the Court of Master Sommelier Certified course in Athens and we barely could tell the difference. While a Barolo, Barbaresco or even a Langhe Nebbiolo can cost easily 2-3 times more then a bottle of Xinomavro, that is another great reason why we should discover this variety!
Domaine Tatsis – Xinomavro 2009
To choose a Wine of the Week for this occasion, I would like to highlight one of my favourite Xinomavro that I have tasted in Greece from Domaine Tatsis. Periklis and Stergios, the two brother who runs the domaine, own around 15 hectares of vineyards made up of Roditis Alepou, Malagousia and Chardonnay for the whites and Negoska, Xinomavro, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cinsaut for the reds. They are organic but implemented biodynamic agriculture in addition to that.
This wine comes right from the home of the variety in Macedonia from Northern Greece planted on a soil rich in clay and gravel. After the harvest it is fermented spontaneously using low intervention that results in a low sulphite content. The wine is unfined and unfiltered and has only seen old oak barrels to really show the true characteristics of the grape with its amazing potential to age. This wine can stay in our cellar to soften easily an additional 10-15 years after the harvest season but not uncommon to leave it even longer.
As you can see, I have tasted a 2009 vintage in 2018 that was still more than capable of further ageing. The wine had a beautiful and intense flavour profile full of red and black forest fruit with earthy spicies, and as the name suggests (Xinomavro = acid black) it had a full body with high acidity a high tannin structure. A well-balanced and well-made wine, that is on a high end of the Greek Xinomavros (currently ranking €38 on wine-searcher.com) with a super long finish.
Conclusion
I fell for this wine in the moment I have tasted it, hence I can recommend it anytime if you are in for a real treat! How are you going to celebrate Xinomavro Day?
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